Hot Spot Use in Advertising

ABSTRACT

The delivery of targeted advertisements (ads) to wireless mobile handheld display devices (MHDDs) with client specific advertisement and dynamic content for response and feedback is becoming important in advertising. As the return for ads on MHDDs becomes higher, there is a push to show larger and more interactive ads on devices that have small displays. This has created a need to maximize the area available for ad viewing. The need for larger viewing area reduces the area available for call-to-action response enabling switches or inserts on the screen for customer interaction. To overcome this deficiency and provide the necessary end-to-end response capability, hot-spots on the ad image are provided as call-to-action response regions without limitation on the ad viewing area. The use of such hot-spots provides users of MHDDs a preferred interaction mechanism for responding to the advertisement, while maintaining a large ad viewing area.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/368,141, End-To-End Response Enabling Collection and Use OfCustomer Viewing Preference Statistics, filed Feb. 9, 2009, whichapplication claims priority from U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/065,258, End-To-End Response Enabling Collection and Use OfCustomer Viewing Preference Statistics, filed Feb. 15, 2008, each ofwhich is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates to advertisements (ads) and content viewing onwireless enabled mobile handheld display devices (MHDDs). Morespecifically, the invention relates to the delivery of large targetedads to MHDDs, and to providing the capability for client specificresponses and feedback with regard to these ads.

2. Description of the Background Art

The use of mobile hand held display devices (MHDDs) has been increasingvery fast. Providing selective delivery of focused advertisements (ads)to different groups of target mobile viewers with wireless enabled MHDDusers in the total population is becoming more and more important andvaluable. There is limited capability of delivering customer/groupspecific ads, and specific preferred ad interaction methods to targetmobile viewer groups are limited as well, but such ad delivery isincreasing. The ads and their content must be delivered to the MHDDs,and responses are collected back, using interactive call-to-actionenablers, such as switches or inserts instantiated on the display of theMHDDs.

The advent of online ad conversion tools for display on MHDDs allows adsin one format to be converted to another format. An example is theAdobe® Wallaby tool (see http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/wallaby/)which converts Flash® ads to hypertext markup language 5 (HTML5) ads.Wallaby does not support call-to-action, although the animations relatedto the ad are preserved. It would be advantageous for mobile advertisersto repurpose online ads for MHDD if call-to-action can be added to thead.

FIG. 1 is a block schematic representation of an MHDD display that showsa prior art instantiation 100 of the call-to-action enablers on thedisplay screen 102 of the MHDD 100. The call-to-action enablers, such asClick-to-Call, Click-to-Browse, Click-to-Jump page, Click-to-Message,Click-to-Mail, Click-to-Bookmark, Click-to-Share, Click-to-Video,Click-to-Ad Unit, Click-to-Download, etc. are instantiated switches 111and 112 and inserts 113 that take up space 104 on the display screen102, thus limiting the space available 103 for display of the ad.

The ads that have to be delivered are becoming more elaborate andrequire larger viewing area for full assimilation. This has limited thearea available for response enablers to be instantiated on the handhelddisplays. This creates a problem because the return on investment forads is closely related to the collected and compiled responses from theMHDD users, which provides development and updating capability forfocusing the ads. Hence, the capability to respond to ads usingpreferred interaction methods and collection of their response toadvertisements is of utmost importance. A capability for end-to-end userinteraction with ads would be essential to enhance the impact of theads. A capability that maximizes the viewing area while providing forend-to-end user interaction with the ads via the user's preferredresponse method would be an advantageous solution that would enhance theads' effectiveness and return.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The delivery of targeted advertisements (ads) to wireless mobilehandheld display devices (MHDDs) with client specific advertisement anddynamic content for response and feedback is becoming important inadvertising. As the return for ads on MHDDs becomes higher, there is apush to show larger and more interactive ads on devices that have smalldisplays. This has created a need to maximize the area available for adviewing. The need for larger viewing area reduces the area available forcall-to-action response enabling switches or inserts on the screen forcustomer interaction. To overcome this deficiency and provide thenecessary end-to-end response capability, hot-spots on the ad image areprovided as call-to-action response regions without limitation on the adviewing area. The use of such hot-spots provides users of MHDDs apreferred interaction mechanism for responding to the advertisement,while maintaining a large ad viewing area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block schematic representation of an MHDD display that showsa prior art instantiation of the call-to-action enablers on the displayscreen of the MHDD;

FIG. 2 is a block schematic representation of an MHDD display that showshot-spots instantiated on the displayed ad in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the use of transparent hot-spots to makethe full display screen available for ad display, while still providingthe capability for customer interaction and feedback, according to theinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram of a machine in the exemplary formof a computer system within which a set of instructions for causing themachine to perform any one of the herein disclosed methodologies may beexecuted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The delivery of targeted advertisements (ads) to wireless mobilehandheld display devices (MHDDs) with client specific advertisement anddynamic content for response and feedback is becoming important inadvertising. As the return for ads on MHDDs becomes higher, there is apush to show larger and more interactive ads on devices that have smalldisplays. This has created a need to maximize the area available for adviewing. The need for larger viewing area reduces the area available forcall-to-action response enabling switches or inserts on the screen forcustomer interaction. To overcome this deficiency and provide thenecessary end-to-end response capability, hot-spots on the ad image areprovided as call-to-action response regions without limitation on the adviewing area. The use of such hot-spots provides users of MHDDs apreferred interaction mechanism for responding to the advertisement,while maintaining a large ad viewing area.

To provide a real-time response capability to alternate content or adsinserted into a video content stream during content viewing, it isnecessary to provide ads which have dynamic content and static messagecontent, as specified by the ads. It also necessary that the dynamiccontent is specific and focused to each target group, e.g. as defined bythe location, the expressed interest, and response mode or method thatthe individual prefers, such as on screen response, short messageservice (SMS), keyboard, email, call-back, etc. Most of this preferenceinformation is pre-known and stored on the MHDD 101 to enable the MHDD101 to download the right ads selectively, as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/368,141, which application is incorporatedherein in its entirety by this reference thereto. The response methodoptions typically provided to a user of an MHDD can include, forexample, Click-to-Call, Click-to-Browse, Click-to-Jump page,Click-to-Video, Click-to-Ad Unit, Click-to-Message, Click-to-Mail,Click-to-Bookmark, Click-to-Share, Click-to-Download, etc. By generatingand focusing the dynamic and static content of an alternate content orad to a target group, and by providing the customer with a preferredinteraction mode, it is possible to improve the impact of the ad on theuser.

Another requirement that is becoming more important is the need forlarger and more complex ads to be displayed on the small MHDD screens.By enabling larger ads it is possible to increase the impact of thefocused ads further. This results in increased interaction in the formof response and feedback from the person who views the ad. Such anend-to-end interaction in the form of a response or feedback is of greatvalue to any ad campaign because it enables the optimization of theimpact of current and future ad campaigns.

In the case of ad conversions using the conversion tools available, suchas the Adobe® Wallaby tool which converts Flash® ads into HTML5 ads,earmarking certain areas of the ad real estate with mobile specificcalls-to-action is needed. These earmarked areas of the ad associatedwith call-to-action enablers, specifically for different deviceresolutions, and target groups of mobile consumers. By insertingtransparent hot-spots onto different animations in the earmarked areaswithin the re-purposed ad, and by associating the call-to-actionenablers to these hot-spots, the converted ads can be enabled forend-to-end interaction with full capabilities for display on MHDDs 101.

FIG. 2 is a block schematic representation 200 of an MHDD display thatshows hot-spots instantiated on the displayed ad to allow themaximization of the area for ad display, while providing thecapabilities to the user for preferred choice of interaction. By use oftransparent markers or hot-spots 211, 212, and 213, that have userspecific call-to-action enablers for activities associated with them,typically on the ad images within the ads, the available space fordisplay 203 for the ad on the display screen 102 of the MHDD 101 can bemaximized. This is done by eliminating the switches and inserts 111,112, 113 of the prior art and thus saving the area 104 necessary on thescreen 102 for their instantiation. Because the hot-spots 211, 212, 213can be made transparent they do not restrict the viewing of the full addisplay on the display screen 102 of the MHDD 101.

The transparent hot-spots 211, 212, and 213 attached to the variouscomponents of the ad can be assigned a preferred set of differentcalls-to-action for the user of the MHDD 101, based on user preferencesstored on the MHDD 101. Here, again. the preferred call-to-action can bechosen from the list of call-to-action enablers, e.g. Click-to-Call,Click-to-Browse, Click-to-Jump page, Click-to-Message, Click-to-Video,Click-to-Ad Unit, Click-to-Mail, Click-to-Bookmark, Click-to-Share, orClick-to-Download, all of which can also be downloaded on to the MHDD.

In the typical case, a processor on the MHDD selects the call-to-actionenablers to be used. This selection is based on the pre-storedpreference of the user on the MHDD 101. Ads having a transparent markeror hot-spot 211, 212, 213 are downloaded by the MHDD 101. A processor onthe MHDD 101 enables the association of the chosen call-to-action withthe hot-spots instantiated on the ad, modifying the ad for dynamiccustomer interaction. During viewing of content, the ad is rendered anddisplayed at an appropriate ad spot within the content stream. Thecomplex images and ads created by the studios and other ad agencies forspecific ad campaigns can remain essentially unaltered and use themaximum allowed area 203 of the display screen 102 of the MHDD 101 fordisplay of the ad. This is achieved by eliminating the area 104 on thedisplay screen 102 used in the prior art to instantiate the switches111, 112 and insert 113 (see FIG. 1). A key difference being that thenon-interactive ad image is now made into an interactive image thatincludes the transparent hot-spots assigned to the set of user preferredcall-to-action enablers for activity generation within the image itself.The user of the MHDD 101 can, for example, move a cursor over the imageto a region containing a transparent hot-spot 212, making the hotspot212 visible and enabled for a preferred call-to-action activity, therebyinitiating that preferred activity and interacting with the ad displayedon the display screen 102.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart 3000 showing the use of transparent hot-spots tomake the full display screen available for ad display, while stillproviding the capability for customer interaction and feedback.

A targeted ad 203 developed for a target users, and having assignabletransparent hot-spots 211, 212, 213 is downloaded by the MHDD 101. Thead 203 contains both dynamic and static components covering the messageto be conveyed (S3001).

The available call-to-action enablers are downloaded by the MHDD 101(S3002).

The processor on the MHDD 101 checks the call-to-action enablers againstthe known preferred modes of activity of the target user of the MHDD101, and chooses the preferred call-to-action enablers from theavailable downloaded call-to-action enablers (S3003).

The processor also associates the chosen call-to-action enablers withthe appropriate hot-spots 211, 212, 213 on the ad, making thenon-interactive ad into an interactive ad (S3004).

During an ad spot, the ad 203 is rendered and displayed on the screen102 of the MHDD 101 (S3005). The use of the transparent hot-spots 211,212, 213 assigned to the call-to-action enablers eliminates the need tohave switches and inserts 111, 112, 113 instantiated separately on thescreen using up area 104. This allows the whole display screen 102 to beused for the ad 203 display.

The user is enabled to interact with the ad 203 using the hot-spots 211,212, 213 on screen to provide the required call-to-action activity andfeedback (S3006).

Hence, this method of using transparent hot-spots 211, 212, 213 withinthe ad 203 enables user interaction and feed back, while allowing theuse of the whole display screen 102 of the MHDD 101 for the ad 203display.

The use of a transparent hot-spot or a marker within the ads providesthe best solution for maximizing the display area for the ad 203 withinthe total available display area 102 of the MHDD 101, while providingfor all the preferred modes of end-to-end response to the consumer.

Computer Implementation

FIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram of a machine in the exemplary formof a computer system 1600 within which a set of instructions for causingthe machine to perform any one of the foregoing methodologies may beexecuted. In alternative embodiments, the machine may comprise orinclude a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, personaldigital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a Web appliance or anymachine capable of executing or transmitting a sequence of instructionsthat specify actions to be taken.

The computer system 1600 includes a processor 1602, a main memory 1604and a static memory 1606, which communicate with each other via a bus1608. The computer system 1600 may further include a display unit 1610,for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT).The computer system 1600 also includes an alphanumeric input device1612, for example, a keyboard; a cursor control device 1614, forexample, a mouse; a disk drive unit 1616, a signal generation device1618, for example, a speaker, and a network interface device 1628.

The disk drive unit 1616 includes a machine-readable medium 1624 onwhich is stored a set of executable instructions, i.e., software, 1626embodying any one, or all, of the methodologies described herein below.The software 1626 is also shown to reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 1604 and/or within the processor 1602.The software 1626 may further be transmitted or received over a network1630 by means of a network interface device 1628.

In contrast to the system 1600 discussed above, a different embodimentuses logic circuitry instead of computer-executed instructions toimplement processing entities. Depending upon the particularrequirements of the application in the areas of speed, expense, toolingcosts, and the like, this logic may be implemented by constructing anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) having thousands of tinyintegrated transistors. Such an ASIC may be implemented withcomplementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), transistor-transistorlogic (TTL), very large systems integration (VLSI), or another suitableconstruction. Other alternatives include a digital signal processingchip (DSP), discrete circuitry (such as resistors, capacitors, diodes,inductors, and transistors), field programmable gate array (FPGA),programmable logic array (PLA), programmable logic device (PLD), and thelike.

It is to be understood that embodiments may be used as or to supportsoftware programs or software modules executed upon some form ofprocessing core (such as the CPU of a computer) or otherwise implementedor realized upon or within a machine or computer readable medium. Amachine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine, e.g. acomputer. For example, a machine readable medium includes read-onlymemory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media;optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical,acoustical or other form of propagated signals, for example, carrierwaves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.; or any other type ofmedia suitable for storing or transmitting information.

The invention disclosed herein may be embodied in software designed toexecute on a specific hardware platform, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof.

Although the invention is described herein with reference to thepreferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat other applications may be substituted for those set forth hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the Claims includedbelow.

1. A method of displaying targeted advertisements (ad) on a mobile handheld display device (MHDD), comprising: a processor downloading atargeted ad comprising dynamic and static content into an MHDD andstoring said ad in an MHDD storage medium; wherein said ad is directedto a target group of users of MHDDs; and wherein said ad comprises aplurality of transparent hot-spots; said processor downloading aplurality of call-to-action enablers into said MHDD and storing saidcall-to-action enablers in said MHDD storage medium; said processorselecting a set of call-to-action enablers from among said downloadedcall-to-action enablers for use with said downloaded ad based upon userpreferences associated with said MHDD; said processor making said adinteractive by associating at least one of said selected call-to-actionenablers with each of said plurality of hot-spots; said processorrendering and displaying said on the MHDD; said processor providing saidMHDD user with a choice of a preferred response mode to said ad fromamong said set of call-to-action enablers when said user selects atleast one hot-spot from said plurality of hot-spots in said ad; and saidprocessor enabling said user to respond to said ad by selecting a hotspot and thereby invoking a call-to-action enabler associated with saidhot-spot; wherein said ad is displayed in a maximum available displayarea said MHDD display while maintaining user interactivity with said advia said hot spots.
 2. The method of claim 1, said call-to-actionenablers, upon user selection of a hot spot, invoking actions comprisingany of Click-to-Call, Click-to-Browse, Click-to-Jump page,Click-to-Video, Click-to-Ad Unit, Click-to-Message, Click-to-Mail,Click-to-Bookmark, Click-to-Share, and Click-to-Download.
 3. Anapparatus for displaying targeted advertisements (ad) on a mobile handheld display device (MHDD), comprising: a processor configured fordownloading a targeted ad comprising dynamic and static content into anMHDD and storing said ad in an MHDD storage medium; wherein said ad isdirected to a target group of users of MHDDs; and wherein said adcomprises a plurality of transparent hot-spots; said processorconfigured for downloading a plurality of call-to-action enablers intosaid MHDD and storing said call-to-action enablers in said MHDD storagemedium; said processor configured for selecting a set of call-to-actionenablers from among said downloaded call-to-action enablers for use withsaid downloaded ad based upon user preferences associated with saidMHDD; said processor configured for making said ad interactive byassociating at least one of said selected call-to-action enablers witheach of said plurality of hot-spots; said processor configured forrendering and displaying said on the MHDD; said processor configured forproviding said MHDD user with a choice of a preferred response mode tosaid ad from among said set of call-to-action enablers when said userselects at least one hot-spot from said plurality of hot-spots in saidad; and said processor configured for enabling said user to respond tosaid ad by selecting a hot spot and thereby invoking a call-to-actionenabler associated with said hot-spot; wherein said ad is displayed in amaximum available display area said MHDD display while maintaining userinteractivity with said ad via said hot spots.
 4. A storage mediumcontaining program instructions which, when executed by a processor,implement a method of displaying targeted advertisements (ad) on amobile hand held display device (MHDD), comprising: a processordownloading a targeted ad comprising dynamic and static content into anMHDD and storing said ad in an MHDD storage medium; wherein said ad isdirected to a target group of users of MHDDs; and wherein said adcomprises a plurality of transparent hot-spots; said processordownloading a plurality of call-to-action enablers into said MHDD andstoring said call-to-action enablers in said MHDD storage medium; saidprocessor selecting a set of call-to-action enablers from among saiddownloaded call-to-action enablers for use with said downloaded ad basedupon user preferences associated with said MHDD; said processor makingsaid ad interactive by associating at least one of said selectedcall-to-action enablers with each of said plurality of hot-spots; saidprocessor rendering and displaying said on the MHDD; said processorproviding said MHDD user with a choice of a preferred response mode tosaid ad from among said set of call-to-action enablers when said userselects at least one hot-spot from said plurality of hot-spots in saidad; and said processor enabling said user to respond to said ad byselecting a hot spot and thereby invoking a call-to-action enablerassociated with said hot-spot; wherein said ad is displayed in a maximumavailable display area said MHDD display while maintaining userinteractivity with said ad via said hot spots.